PlayMais is a natural modelling material made from cornstarch and water and coloured with food colourings. PlayMais encourages fine muscle movement and dexterity along with developing their creativity and aiding their development. My first impression of PlayMais was how different it is compared with other modelling products available.
PlayMais is available in a variety of different sized packs. I received the XL box. The box is brightly coloured and there is a window allowing the PlayMais pieces inside o be visible. There is a huge amount of information in various languages. Inside the box is a leaflet with various ideas of things to make.
Garreth rarely gets anything to play with/test himself so he was like a bottle of pop when I told him there was something arriving for him. When the PlayMais actually arrived the box was open and contents were on the floor before I had chance to say ‘hold on a moment’. The PlayMais pieces come in a variety of colours including blue, yellow, orange, brown, green and silver. They are easily moulded with your fingers and stick together surprisingly easy when moistened with just a dab of water. The ideas leaflet proved a great help to Garreth and he set about busily creating a cow and a tree. He made me a flower and was even able to create a car!
PlayMais also smells lovely! In fact, my stomach started rumbling when I opened the pack and I could have eaten a piece there and then.
I have found stray pieces around my house recently and have had to pull random pieces from inside my sofa, my washing machine, tumble dryer and under the furniture (a nightmare with a mobile 9 month old who sees everything as food!) However this was entirely my fault for not letting Garreth play with this in a confined space. If we had sat at the table it would have been much easier to control and pick up any strays! I know if my 9 month old daughter had managed to eat one of the PlayMais pieces they are totally safe for her due to being made from food safe products. Though I will not encourage her to add these to her daily meal plan!!
I love PlayMais and I think it is a much better alternative to modelling clays. It doesn’t stick to your carpet, doesn’t ruin good clothes and doesn’t colour your tongue (yes we have experienced this). Although, if a wet PlayMais piece comes into contact with a tiled floor, grab a knife or something to scrape it off.
The PlayMais modelling experience was really enjoyed by four of my children, ages ranging from nine to three. PlayMais certainly kept them occupied over the summer holidays!
My children started playing with PlayMais on the carpet however we found it was much easier for them all to be sat at the table. Once I had moved them onto the kitchen table with a small shallow bowl of water each they all created their own unique models. My youngest child seemed to struggle slightly with the plastic knife that accompanied the PlayMais and I had to help her along and supervise with a pair of kiddies scissors. My children all had great fun and tried copying the models in the booklet included.
The finished models were slightly dodgy looking and didn’t really look like the ones on the box but still a fun activity for a rainy day. We tested a large box and even with 4 pairs of hands modelling with PlayMais there are still plenty of the pieces left and I know that they will be playing with them again soon!
I found the box to be very colourful and included all the information I needed as a mother to feel that the product was very safe for my children to play with. There is a clear cover on the box to enable you to view the product which I think is a bonus when purchasing modelling products like this.
A fantastic product that keeps children very happy for longer than most toys, did not create as much mess as I expected and certainly aided with their creativity skills!
My four year old son loved PlayMais and had hours of fun creating countless models - the only person who loved it more was his father! It is definitely something that both parent and child can enjoy doing together. I was particularly impressed with the fact it was 100% biodegradable and contained no toxic ingredients.
PlayMais really does help a child release their creative side and my son really did make some obscure creations but he absolutely loved the fact that it is fun to do and is not as messy as painting. All the pieces are different colours and enabled my son to try and match up colours that worked together and I feel this is an educational toy also.
Made from maize, semolina and water and dyed with natural food colouring, no glue is required to model with the pieces just a little water so there really is hardly any mess! I was amazed how easy it was to clean up once finished with. I made sure my son wore an apron and used our kitchen table but it really was a case of scrapping the excess pieces back in the very large box (we trialled the Large size and it really was large and will last a very long time!) and emptying the water!
My expectations of PlayMais have certainly been exceeded from when I was first given the box and I will certainly be recommending this product for use as Christmas presents!
Marks 5/5